Hans News Service Mysuru

DeputyChief Minister DrG Parameshwara and Health Minister U T Khader stated that the action by SP Rishyanth in preventing certain ministers from proceeding during the Nandi Dhvaja Puja of Mysuru Dasara should not be inflated into a major controversy.

Dr. Parameshwara noted that officers simply carry out the directions given to them and that, when crowds of 15–20 lakh people arrive over ten days of the festival, occasional small lapses occur. After viewing the video, he observed that no physical manhandling took place; the ministers were merely asked to stop.

He suggested the possibility that an existing protocol required only the Chief Minister to advance at that point.

On remarks that Dalit ministers had been insulted, Dr. Parameshwara asked why the caste label needed to be attached at all. “Ministers are ministers, and other ministers are not identified by caste,” he said.

Health Minister U T Khader added that the police action was not deliberate and that human error is a natural occurrence. He pointed out that officers had been on continuous duty without proper meals for a month and that minor slips in a security setting should not be sought out and enlarged.

The episode had already drawn a formal response from Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who instructed Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh to conduct an inquiry and submit a report.